By Cameron Moix The Colorado Springs Business Journal Train stations once were among the world’s epicenters of connectivity and vitality. They represented the worth of a community as well as its future economic potential. That’s an ethos the O’Neil Group Company wishes to recreate at its Catalyst Campus, a collaborative work and education environment slated to open next summer in downtown Colorado Springs. The O’Neil Group announced last week its plans to create an “innovation district” surrounding the historic Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad depot at the intersection of Pikes Peak and Colorado avenues on downtown’s east side. The company purchased the 6.5-acre property and three buildings Oct. 30 for $4.5 million, […]

Published on Thursday, 29 August 2013 16:53- Braxton Technologies, LLC which was started in 1994 and develops software to help Air Force commands in the Springs and Los Angeles automate satellite control and other tasks. The company made the list for the fourth consecutive year. It employed 96 people at the end of last year, adding 58 in the past three years. Braxton’s revenue was up 78 percent since 2008 to $20.1 million, ranking it 3,735th, compared with 3,064th in 2012. […]

Published on Tuesday, 16 April 2013 17:17Neither rain, sleet, snow, hail, wind, nor dark of night will deter… Loosely Translated, Herodotus, Histories (8.98) …attendees at the 29th National Space Symposium from their appointed rounds. Seriously, folks, with apologies to postal workers everywhere, here in the Rocky Mountains it was 72 degrees on the eighth of April, the first day of the largest space symposium in the world. This morning, the ninth, the startled thermometer hovered around eleven degrees with snow, high winds and attendees searching for any outer wear they could find. And except for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) personnel, everyone braved the weather and soldiered on. NASA, of course, one of the few government agencies with space in its name, decided they did not need to attend the National Space Symposium this year. But that is NASA’s loss and a story for another time, because more than 9,000 other dedicated space professionals did attend, and more than 170 companies provided major exhibits that filled to capacity the largest pillar-less exhibition hall west of the Mississippi. Just writing this makes my feet hurt. And the best part is this all takes place at the five-star Broadmoor Resort in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, hence Mother Nature’s raucous spring weather shenanigans. […]

Published on Monday, 25 February 2013 03:59 THE GAZETTE Colorado’s space industry faces challenges from flat government spending, growth of competitors for commercial markets and an aging workforce, according to a report to be published Tuesday by the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. The state’s $8.7 billion space industry employed more than 66,000 in 2011 between the military and commercial sectors and generates 3.8 percent of the state’s economic output, making it a “critical driver for Colorado’s economic growth because of the industry’s links to the telecommunications, software and advanced materials industries, the report said. The space industry’s growth in recent years helped to offset some of the effects of the recent recession, adding 3,300 jobs when the rest of the state’s job market was contracting. […]

eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship, a non-profit business incubator for aerospace companies, today announced that it has added new members [Frank Backes, CEO, Braxton Technologies, LLC] to its board of directors and a new member to its team of government liaisons. Already lauded for workforce development programs that encourage high school and college students to enter the aerospace industry, eSpace now fortifies its position as mentor with high-level, connected advisors and guides who can help space entrepreneurs succeed in the highly-regulated, tight-knit aerospace industry during a recessionary economy. […]

Colorado Springs is building a reputation as a leader in the Global Positioning Satellite marketplace. Not only is the city home to the missile defense and satellite control systems headquartered at Schriever Air Force and to Air Force Space Command’s headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, it is supported by emerging private sector GPS companies as well. That growing focus was noted recently by ClearanceJobs.com, when Colorado Springs was included among the top 10 Defense Job cities – due in large part to a concentration of private sector companies that surround the area’s military aerospace industry. […]